Cast Away - What Happened in the Forest
by cupcakekat
Summary: What could have possibly happened when Cora zapped Neal and Emma to the forest near Storybrooke? - OneShot


"Ouch!"  
Emma scrunched her face in pain and rubbed her hurting ankle.  
"Stupid tree root!"  
"It's probably sprained."  
"Well thanks, Captain Obvious!"  
She glared at Neal who held out his hand for her to get up from the ground.  
"Why are you mad at me now? I didn't magically zap us into that forest!"  
"I'm not mad!"  
"Yeah, not at all", he snorted sarcastically.  
Emma gave him another look as she pulled herself up to sit down on a huge stone.  
"Man, where the hell has she sent us?"  
"You tell me, I'm only here since yesterday!"  
"This goddamn forest is like a freaking maze!"  
Emma bent down, rolled her jeans up and examined the beginning swelling on her right ankle.  
"When did you start to curse so much?"  
"I'm not cursing."  
"Yes you are."  
"I don't know, okay?"  
"No need to yell at me!"  
"I am not yelling!"  
"Yes. You. Are."  
Now Emma felt the need to actually yell. He was driving her insane.  
"Maybe it was when you decided to leave me pregnant in jail for two years!"  
She stopped, taking a sharp breath. Her heart raced and her eyes widened. That shouldn't have happened. It just had slipped right out of her mouth. They even had agreeed on putting the topic aside for Henry's sake. She thought she had overcome that thing.  
"Emma, I'm…"  
"Please don't say you're sorry."  
Her voice was shaking and she looked down. Neal closed his mouth and studied her, irritated.  
"What do you want me to say then, Emma? I already tried to explain at that bar, but you wouldn't listen to me properly!"  
She looked back up, right into his eyes, getting mad at him all over again.  
"What is there to explain? You just left me. You left everything. Everything we had planned for the future. Our future! You left your son! You left your family! You..left…me…"  
Emma's voice broke at the last three words, not being able to fight the lump in her throat any longer. She swallowed hard and tried to hold back the tears she felt welling up in her eyes.  
"I..was alone…for my whole…life."  
But she couldn't help it anymore. Her words were interrupted by sobs and tears started streaming down her face, dripping on her lap. Neal hovered down beside her and started to gently stroke her arm and then the side of her face with the back of his hand.  
All the suppressed anger and sadness seemed to well up all at once. All the times Emma had been rejected by another family, constantly wondering why no one wanted to have her in their family, never being able to make real friends, being alone for the major part of her life. Neal Cassidy had been the first person who had actually seemed to care about her and he had left her alone, too. And all of the sudden he appeared back in her life, out of a "coincidence" or maybe fate, after ten years of trying to forget about him.  
"Shhh."  
She felt him sitting down beside her and putting his arms around her. It reminded her so much of them being together, it hurt. Emma leaned her head on his chest as she slowly tried to get hold of herself, still being shaken by sobs.  
"Didn't know you were such a crybaby."  
It made her chuckle through the tears and she gave Neal a crooked smile. Then she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and wiped her cheeks.  
"Ibm doe cwybaby, you ibiot!"  
"I think you need this."  
Neal handed her a tissue from his pocket and when Emma had finished blowing her nose he stood up and held out his hand for her once again.  
"We got to get out of here."  
Emma still scrunched her face at the slightest weight put on her hurt foot.  
"That's not gonna be easy, I fear", she said as she sat back down on the rock.  
"I could prop you up."  
"Okay, let's try that."  
Emma smiled a little, as she got up with Neal's help this time, her arm around his neck and his arm wrapped around her waist.

"You think they are alright?", she suddenly asked after a few steps, the worry showing through her question.  
"I hope so. I really do", Neal replied not less worried.  
"I could never forgive myself if anyone of them gets hurt."  
"But it isn't your fault, Emma, there's nothing you could've done!"  
"I could have taken care of Cora over there! I could have defeated her!"  
"You know, it isn't your fault, right?", he repeated, a concerned look on his face.  
"But I have to protect them! They're the only ones I have!"  
"I'm pretty sure they can take care of themselves, don't forget who they are."  
"How could I, Mr Son-of-Rumplestiltskin?", Emma asked sarcastically.  
"Thanks for reminding me."  
He sounded so pained, that she felt bad for bringing it up. He had been there for her the past two hours, while not knowing if his father even was still alive and she had been crying like a little girl about how miserable her life was.  
"Neal, I'm…"  
Right in that moment, Neal stopped and Emma almost lost her balance. He pointed at a fallen tree that blocked the way right in front of them.  
"Guess I'll have to lift you over it.", he said, studying the ripped up trunk on the left side of the path to see if there was any way around it. Emma nodded and waited for him to step over the stem that was about the height of his thighs. Then he bent over, placed one arm around her waist and one over the back of her thighs to lift her up. He almost lost his balance from the sudden weight in his arms and had to pull her over the tree with a fast swing to not let her drop on the ground.  
"Whoa, easy tiger!", Emma exclaimed as she almost slipped right out of his arms.  
"Hm, you know what I just thought?", he asked, ignoring her tease.  
"We would get along much faster if I gave you a piggy-back. I mean it gets dark soon."  
"Are you serious? I hadn't have a piggy-back since…"  
She interrupted herself.  
"The last time I had one was ten years ago", she said slowly and Neal gave her a knowing glance.  
"Then it is high time, come on, be my guest!"  
He smirked and Emma wondered how he could joke around like that with both their families in such a danger. But maybe he could just hide his feelings very well. Neal let her go carefully and she put her good foot on the ground, still holding on to Neal as he turned around to take her on his back.  
"Are you sure you can take me? You almost let me fall to the floor one time."  
"I'll let you know when you get to heavy, be sure of that."  
And with that he started to walk along the narrow trail, with Emma on his back watching out for signs of familiar places.

About twenty minutes later - Neal had not once complained about her being too heavy - they finally arrived at the Toll-Bridge from which it was only a matter of minutes to get back into town.  
"Neal?", Emma started as they were passing the sign someone had ironically painted an R on between the T and the O, making it say "Troll-Bridge".  
"Yeah?", he murmured in reply.  
"I just wanted to thank you. For…everything."  
"Also for leaving you in jail?"  
"Not the right time, Neal."  
"Sorry."  
"You remember what you told me at that bar?", she continued.  
"About destiny, about everything being designed that way? I think…I think maybe you were right. Maybe I hadn't become the person I am now and maybe I'd never broken the curse. I'd never known my real parents."  
"So you did listen to me?"  
"Yes", she said.  
"But I'm still mad at you for leaving me in jail", she added, but in a little more playful way now.  
Eventually she would completely forgive him about that, as she sensed he had a hard time making that decision and it probably had been the right thing to do.  
"And Neal?", she asked again.  
"Yeah?"  
"Everything is going to be okay, right?"  
"I think so", he replied. "After all our parents are fairytale characters, right?"  
That last remark put a smile on Emma's face.  
"Right."


End file.
